Air Canada strike: Worldwide services hit as 700 flights grounded; 10,000 attendants walk off
Air Canada has suspended all operations after more than 10,000 of its flight attendants walked off the job early Saturday, plunging peak summer travel into chaos and leaving passengers stranded around the world.
The strike began shortly before 1 am EDT after a deadline to reach a new contract passed, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) spokesman Hugh Pouliot confirmed, as per news agency AP.
The airline announced soon after that it would halt flights entirely, strongly advising customers 'not to go to the airport' and expressing 'deep regret' over the disruption, reported news agency AFP.
The complete shutdown is affecting Air Canada's full schedule of about 700 daily flights, impacting roughly 130,000 travellers per day, including an estimated 25,000 Canadians abroad.
By Friday night, the airline had already cancelled 623 flights affecting more than 100,000 passengers, according to AFP.
Contract talks break down
Negotiations between Air Canada and CUPE have been ongoing for about eight months but remain deadlocked over pay and compensation for unpaid ground duties. The union has refused to enter government-directed arbitration, which would have removed its right to strike, saying it wants to bargain directly.
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'We're here to bargain a deal, not to go on strike,' Pouliot said in an email cited by AP, adding that Air Canada had not countered the union's last two proposals since Tuesday.
Air Canada's latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation over four years, which it said would make its flight attendants the best paid in Canada.
A Thursday statement from the airline detailed that, under the proposal, a senior flight attendant would earn about C$87,000 by 2027.
The union has rejected the offer, calling it 'below inflation and below market value'. CUPE is also seeking pay for ground duties such as boarding, which are currently uncompensated, a standard practice in the airline industry but one the union says is unfair.
Rafael Gomez, director of the University of Toronto's Centre for Industrial Relations, was quoted by AFP as saying that while unpaid pre-flight work is common globally, CUPE has successfully framed it as an issue of fairness in the public eye.
'That's a very good issue to highlight,' he said, noting that any gains here could influence other carriers.
Travellers left in limbo
With planes grounded, travellers have been left scrambling. Montreal resident Alex Laroche, 21, said he and his girlfriend had saved since Christmas for an $8,000 European vacation — now at risk. 'At this point, it's just a waiting game,' Laroche said, as per AP.
He initially resented the strike but changed his mind after learning about the wage dispute, saying, 'Their wage is barely livable.'
Air Canada says passengers can request full refunds via its website or app, and it will attempt to rebook travellers on other carriers where possible. However, the airline warns that alternative flights are already full due to summer demand.
Canada's federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu urged both sides to 'work harder' to resolve the dispute, calling it 'unacceptable that such little progress has been made'. The Business Council of Canada warned before the strike that halting Air Canada's passenger and cargo services could cause 'immediate and extensive harm' to the economy.
Industry experts expect the stoppage to be short-lived. 'This is peak season,' Gomez said. 'The airline does not want to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue… They're almost playing chicken with the flight attendants'.
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